After weakening earlier in the day, the Pakistani rupee finished marginally stronger against the US dollar in the open market on Friday.

Currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was being quoted at 299 for selling and 296 for buying purposes for customers in the open market, weaker from Thursday’s levels.

However, by the close of trading on Friday, the rupee settled at 297 for selling and 294 for buying, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).

The rates are close to the rupee’s value in the inter-bank market, reducing the premium that is one of the structural benchmarks of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

In the inter-bank market, the rupee closed at 296.85 against the US dollar.

“If the crackdown continues, then we will see further improvement in the currency’s value,” said a dealer. “However, there is a need to restructure our policies.”

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP decreased by another $140 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $7.64 billion as of September 8.